Accused PlayStation Hacker Smashes Computers, Gets House Arrest

Todd Miller is one of the men accused of being behind the 2008 PlayStation Network hacks. Last week he was sentenced to 12 months house arrest, but here’s the thing: authorities couldn’t prove he was involved. Instead, the Columbus Dispatch reports, the sentence was handed out because Miller, having been interviewed by the FBI in…

Metro: Last Light: The Kotaku Review

What will the world look like after the bombs fall? Can God exist in a place without hope? When man’s desire to survive overrides his morality, is the empire he constructs worth saving? Those are some of the questions raised by Metro: Last Light. The (cheery!) first-person shooter is Russian studio 4A Games’ follow-up to…

This Game Looks Quiet, Beautiful, And Absolutely Fascinating

This is The Novelist, an upcoming indie game by veteran designer Kent Hudson. It looks kind of amazing. I’ll let Hudson explain the concept, via his website: The Novelist asks one central question: can you achieve your dreams without pushing away the people you love? The game focuses on Dan Kaplan, a novelist struggling to…

No The Multiplayer column this week—sorry folks! Patricia ain’t feeling so great. The column will be back next week, though.

Comics Writer Greg Rucka ‘Will Cut a Throat’ to Work on Mass Effect

Greg Rucka doesn’t seem like somebody who needs help making his dreams come true. This is, after all, a man who wrote Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman comics all at the same time. He’s also managed to craft incredibly tense dramas in creator-owned series like Queen & Country, Whiteout and Stumptown. But the best-selling novelist…

Filming begins in Macon, Ga. on the Need for Speed movie, which this local TV reporter says is “a great moment for Macon, for Fountain Car Wash, and for all of the community.”

Life And Loss Converge Beautifully In Spry Fox’s Road Not Taken

Triple Town developer Spry Fox has surprised and delighted me at every turn, from their clone-attracking mobile masterpiece to browser-based strategy game Highgrounds to the completely charming co-op of Leap Day. So when the developers tell us they are crafting a moving, personal tale of love and loss within a roguelike puzzle game, I don’t…

A Game Where You Can Control Your Powers Using Your Mind

Buttons, controllers, keyboards, motion controls? Been there, done that. Mind-controlled games, people—or more specifically, games controlled by brain activity—are something else. Son of Nor is a game about controlling the elements and terraforming—we’ve called it an Avatar game of sorts before, we’ve likened the abilities you have to “force powers.” Both of these things are…

Why Yes, I Do Want Another Incredible Machine

People who gamed on PCs during the ancient 90s may remember The Incredible Machine, a wonderful series in which you could construct all sorts of strange Rube Goldberg contraptions out of springs and ramps and balls. It’s back! Sort of. Contraption Maker, a spiritual successor created by some of the people behind the TIM games…

The Moneysaver: Saints Row, Metro 2033 for $3, And A Telescope

Save now, or forever hold your peace. Welcome to another week of savings. If you happened to miss out on all of last week’s deals, the best of them have been conveniently rounded up right here. Yes, those sweet sweet Audio-Technica ATH-M50’s are still on sale, I’m wearing them right now. Thanks to everyone yesterday…

That Cool ‘PS4 Teaser’ Is A Fake, Sony Says

Whoever made this clip wants you to believe it’s the first look at the PlayStation 4 hardware. But, Sony tells me it’s a fake. Too bad. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t blame someone just wandering over onto the Internet for guessing it wasn’t. Let’s consider the footage, shall we? Sure, E3 is right around the corner and…

If BioShock Was A Film, It Might Be A Little Like This

Despite being made on a tight budget, The Brothers Rapture is a well-made BioShock fan-film which takes a look at two men who who relocate to Rapture in search of a clean slate. And, naturally, the brothers end up grappling with the moral quandary of using plasmids along the way. Good stuff by TheBrothersRapture,though the…

Want to take classes from Professor Warren Spector? The University of Texas has created the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy. Spector will guide its curriculum and Paul Sams, Blizzard’s chief operating officer, is also an instructor. Admitted students pay no tuition and get a $10,000 stipend.

The Next Phoenix Wright Will Hit The West This Fall [UPDATE]

Ace Attorney 5 will get the ridiculous title Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies for the West, and it’ll be out on 3DS as a digital release this fall. That’s right, a digital release. Hope you’ve got a big SD card: Phoenix Wright’s new adventure ain’t coming on a cartridge, according to Capcom’s announcement…

New Assassin’s Creed IV Trailer Explains Why You’ll Be a Pirate

Sure, you’re going to play as a pirate in the next Assassin’s Creed but it’s not exactly clear why. If you’re wondering what motivated the swashbuckling terrors of the seven seas to live life the way they did, then watch the newest promo clip for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Pirates as symbols of freedom?…

If You’re Into Endless Running, Might As Well Be Running With Friends

With its growing focus on mobile gaming and its penchant for trying to out-popular already popular games, Zynga was going to get around to stepping on Temple Run‘s toes eventually, and what better way than to combine the joy of endless running with the trusted …With Friends brand? The result is a combination I’m finding…

ESRB Tells Browser Game to Quit Bragging That It Was Rated AO

The ESRB has asked the Chinese maker of a browser-based game to quit advertising it as rated Adults Only, reports GamesIndustry.biz, largely because the game has never been rated by the ESRB. Even if it had, Wartune would likely run afoul of ESRB policies against making a marketing spectacle of acquiring such a notorious rating…

‘Grand Theft Auto Taught Me To Drive’ [UPDATE: Hoax]

UPDATE, 12/4/14: This story appears to have been based on a hoax that was intended to trick us into publishing a false article. An indie developer said as much online last night and in a subsequent e-mail to me, saying that he and a friend decided to play a “harmless” prank to see which of…

This LEGO Aliens Video Is A Better Game Than Colonial Marines

And it’s not even a video game! It’s a stop motion video made out of LEGO! This video by Kooberz is a new series initiative—going by BrickTube—hosted on Machinima. You might remember Kooberz’s work on the incredible Portal 2 LEGO stop motion video that makes me desperately want to go back home and replay the…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: A retro review of Chrono Trigger from Sloshy, who wonders if the classic JRPG still deserves all of that love. Another review—this one by PyramidHeadCrab—says that Alpha Protocol is an unjustly maligned classic . If you’re an anime lover, you need to know about AniTAY,…